Esohe Aghatise, PhD, Founder and Executive Director of the Associazione Iroko Onlus, wrote in an Oct. 2004 Violence Against Women article titled "Trafficking for Prostitution in Italy" that:
"The argument that regulation of prostitution better protects women in prostitution is deceptive. Prostitution itself is a form of violence against women and a negation of women's fundamental human rights. Studies have shown that women in prostitution, whether in private apartments, hotel rooms, sex clubs, massage parlors, or in large megacenters of prostitution activities, still experience many forms of violence (Raymond et al., 2002). In a male-dominant culture, prostitution denies equality to women by treating the female body as an instrument of commerce."
-- Brothels Don’t Work ( or at least don’t protect the rights of women)
Anastasia Volkonsky, JD, Founder and former Project Director of Prevention, Referral, Outreach, Mentoring, and Intervention to End Sexual Exploitation (PROMISE), in the Feb. 27, 1995 Insight on the News article "Legalization the 'Profession' Would Sanction the Abuse," wrote:
"Behind the facade of a regulated industry, brothel prostitutes in Nevada are captive in conditions analogous to slavery. Women often are procured for the brothels from other areas by pimps who dump them at the house in order to collect the referral fee. Women report working in shifts commonly as long as 12 hours, even when ill, menstruating or pregnant, with no right to refuse a customer who has requested them or to refuse the sexual act for which he has paid. The dozen or so prostitutes I interviewed said they are expected to pay the brothel room and board and a percentage of their earnings -- sometimes up to 50 percent. They also must pay for mandatory extras such as medical exams, assigned clothing and fines incurred for breaking house rules. And, contrary to the common claim that the brothel will protect